Clarence Rufus Joseph Rivers (September 9, 1931 – November 21, 2004) was a Black Catholic priest and well-known composer of liturgical music. His work combined

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

worship with Black Gospel, making him an integral part of the

Black Catholic Movement The Black Catholic Movement (or Black Catholic Revolution) was a movement of African Americans, African-American Catholics in the United States that developed and shaped modern Black Catholicism. From roughly 1968 to the mid-1990s, Black Catholi ...

. He also wrote several books on music and spirituality.

Biography

Early life and education

Rivers was born in Selma, Alabama, but his family moved to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

when he was young. It was there that he began his study for the priesthood. He did graduate work at Xavier and

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Universities, as well as the Catholic University of America and L’Institut Catholique de Paris.

Priesthood

Rivers was ordained to the priesthood in 1956 by Archbishop Karl Joseph Alter, Karl J. Alter. He was first African-American ordained in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Early after his ordination, he worked at St. Joseph Church, a historically-Black parish in Cincinnati’s West End, Cincinnati, West End neighborhood. He also was an English teacher at Purcell High School in the East Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, East Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati. He began to gain notoriety for his music during the Civil rights movement, Civil Rights Movement, beginning with his "An American Mass Program," which combined Gregorian Chant with the melodic patterns and rhythms of Spirituals, Negro Spirituals. (He was influenced in this tradition by Sr Sister Mary Elaine Gentemann, who had composed such a Mass in 1945.) Rivers' most beloved hymn was "God is Love," which he first performed at the first official Mass in the Catholic Church, Mass in English language, English in the United States after the Second Vatican Council (which had opened the door in Canon law of the Catholic Church, canon law for vernacular Mass rather than Latin). The song was used as the Communion Hymn during the Mass, which was held during the 1964 National Liturgical Conference in St. Louis, St Louis. It received a 10-minute standing ovation. In 1965, Rivers formed a corporation named “Stimuli Incorporated” so that he could “share his gift of Blackness” with other Catholics. He became director of the The National Office for Black Catholics, National Office for Black Catholics' Office of Culture and Worship during the

, and there organized various conferences and workshops in addition to spearheading the NOBC's cultural journal, "Freeing the Spirit" (a motif Rivers would re-use in various other contexts, including as the title of a short memoir). During this time, he added to his team one Robert Ray, penman of the "Gospel Mass" choral setting sung by choirs worldwide ever since. He received his doctorate in African-American Culture and Catholic Liturgy from the Union Institute in 1978, and received the Berakah Award in 2002.

Death

He died unexpectedly in 2004 at the age of 73.

Legacy

Rivers was passionate about the drama of public worship, as well as the music that was the "soul" of worship. He was equally devoted to African-American culture, African American culture and was known for his lavish vestments and distinctive jewelry. In addition to being a gifted composer, he had an acclaimed vocal style. But it was his personal faith and belief in the Catholic liturgy, liturgy as a place where one encountered God in Christianity, God that motivated all of his work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Clarence Rufus J 2004 deaths Musicians from Selma, Alabama American male composers Catholic University of America alumni African-American Catholics African-American Roman Catholic priests Yale University alumni 1931 births 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people